


Time and Death are Abstract in the Abyss

by jseca



Series: Time and Death are Abstract in the Abyss [2]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: (but it's all good now), Fluff, Gen, M/M, Mentioned Past Character Death, Spoilers for the stolen century arc, and introspection, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-11-20 16:49:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11339460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jseca/pseuds/jseca
Summary: "Damn, if Magnus is going to talk about it he may as well just do it.  Taako waves an imaginary mage hand goodbye to the intangible (and, apparently, unobtainable) concept of peace and quiet and not talking about death and dying and stuff."Taako would be happy to just lie down, stare into the stars and forget all about his unfortunate death and more fortunate forced resurrection.  Unfortunately for him, Magnus has Emotions.





	Time and Death are Abstract in the Abyss

“… Taako?”

The unusual hesitant tone is cause for Taako to incline his head just enough to acknowledge that he’s heard Magnus’s voice.  It’s a calculated motion, restrained enough to hide how, with a single word, Taako’s interest is piqued, (it’s a one-in-a-million day that _Magnus_ tiptoes into any situation, after all) but enough to convey cool, calm recognition.  He knows exactly why Magnus is here; exactly why he isn’t barrelling in with a clap to Taako’s shoulder and a sunbeam smile like normal, but hell if he’s going to be the one to start _that_ conversation.

 _We should really be used to this shit by now,_ he thinks, rolling his eyes up at the sky.  He adjusts his head on his crossed arms as he feels the first hint of numbness from lying still too long, watching from the corner of his eye as Magnus comes over to sit down beside him.

“Hail and well met, my dude,” Taako tries joking before the otherwise inevitable awkward silence sets in, because he might not be into the whole talking thing right now, but he is _really_ not about sitting in weird silence as their first interaction in – well.  Months.  He actually turns his head a little as Magnus smiles; not a ‘Magnus smile’, given that it’s almost imperceptible, but it’s there, and that’s enough. 

His black eye’s back again.  Taako can pretend, but it never stops being weird.

“Figured I’d find you here,” Magnus comments airily, leaning his arms back behind him to better stare up through the glass ceiling.

“So I’m predictable, sue me,” Taako quips, turning his gaze back skywards.  It’s become a ritual for him, once they’ve all been rematerialised and remade, to head on over to the observation deck, lie down and gaze up into the infinite expanse of stars above him, and below him, and all around him.  As much as some might find it overwhelming, too much to handle, too ‘existential crisis imminent’, (y _eah, Lup, I heard you)_ Taako finds it.. grounding.  He’s still here, the Starblaster is still flying, and there’s still at least _some_ universe left intact. 

Of course, he is Taako of the blasé and belligerent, so it’s not like he’d ever _say_ any of that shit.

“I’m getting my stargazing ritual on, my man, you know how it is.”

“Well, I hope you don’t mind the company.”  It’s honestly just so weird to hear Magnus practically talk himself down like this.  There’s still that hesitance pervading his otherwise decent attempt at normalcy, too, and Taako’s already getting tired of _that._ He audibly sighs.

“Course not.  Have I ever before?”

“I guess not,” Magnus shrugs, and then goes silent for a few agonising seconds.  Taako keeps his gaze staunchly on the brightest star he can find.  “It’s just.”  Taako holds his breath.  “You know.”

Damn, if Magnus is going to talk about it he may as well just _do it_.  Taako waves an imaginary mage hand goodbye to the intangible (and, apparently, unobtainable) concept of peace and quiet and not talking about death and dying and stuff.

“I never kicked it on a year out before?” Magnus visibly winces.  “First time for everything.”  He pauses, allowing himself to contemplate it for a moment.

He’d been reckless and overconfident, not realising how far people would go to protect the light of creation once they’d laid claim to its warmth and sense of benevolence.  He got got.  He wasn’t proud of it.  But it happened, and now it’s over.

“I’m feeling pretty chill about it,” he concludes, partly to himself, partly to Magnus.  And it’s also a lie, but damn if he’s going to delve into that train of thought.

“Well, uh.  Good?  I guess?” Magnus frowns.  “I remember being… pretty shook up.  That first time I died.”

“It’s whatever, my man,” Taako dismisses off-hand.  “We’re practically invincible, we could definitely have been handed a worse deal here.”

“That’s how you think of it, huh?” Magnus asks, sounding contemplative, like it’s a side of things he’s never thought of before.  Taako shrugs as best he can, all horizontal.  “Really?”

At that, Taako finally gives up on the whole not making eye contact thing, pushing himself up and sitting himself down.  Now that he’s finally looking directly at Magnus, he can see the worry lining his face as he looks back at Taako, head tilted a little in question.  He can feel his defences starting to crack.

“Well, I mean,” he starts, and then stops.  “Sure.  We’re – we’re basically _godlike_.  Who needs to worry when you got the power of perpetual resurrection on your side, am I right?  The actual _dying_ part, sure, I’ll hand it to you, it kinda sucked.  But hey, like a Candlenights miracle, here I am, Taako, back in the flesh, giving your day-to-day lives the panache they deserve!”  He finds that he’s actually grinning now, overdramatic hand flourishes accompanying his self-masturbatory monologue.

 Magnus doesn’t look so jived.

“But that’s just it.  It sucked, without you,” he says, open and honest and too much for Taako to handle. 

“I - ,” Taako tries, but he is genuinely floored.  Open, heart-on-your-sleeve emotions are not something he was made to deal with, like, at all, and here’s Magnus suddenly laying it all out on the table like an unappetising buffet that Taako does _not_ want to dive into. 

“It sucks whenever _any_ of you.. die.”  The Magnus’ Emotions train ain’t stopping anytime soon, apparently.  “There’s no guarantee that this resurrection stuff is going to last forever, you know?  What if this death is the last death?”

“… Damn, Magnus, I wasn’t really gunning for an existential doom and gloom chat session, gotta tell you,” Taako murmurs, teetering dangerously on the wall between fight or flight.  Or in this case talk or walk, he supposes. 

“Yeah, well, you shouldn’t have gone and died!” Magnus retorts, a little louder this time.  “You’re seriously telling me that you don’t feel _anything_ when any of us die on a mission?”  He’s not getting visibly angry, or raising his voice, but he’s worked himself up and doesn’t even allow for Taako to jump in with a response as he continues.  “When Lup’s sacrificed herself?  Or Davenport?  Merle?”  He hesitates, quietening.  “ _Me?”_

“Hey, give me a chance!  You’re kinda backing me into a corner here, my man.”  He takes a deep breath.  “I’m sorry for dying, okay?  Were it up to me, that is definitely not a thing that would have happened.”

“That’s not -,” Magnus huffs, scooching round to better face Taako.  “ _That’s_ your takeaway?” He looks, to Taako’s relief, almost amused.  Almost.

“No, but -- I’m sure you understand that this kind of ‘spill your emotions’ shit is just _not_ something I’ve ever had any sort of proficiency in, big guy.  You’re, like, a natural.  You got that rustic charisma going for you, making all the ladies wanna swoon and tell their secrets.”

Magnus actually chuckles, and Taako praises whichever deity is it that Merle’s always toting.  “Guess it doesn’t work on Taakos, huh?”

“You’re getting there, I think.”  He’s smiling, and Magnus is smiling, and Taako reckons he’s managed to dodge a bullet without hurting anyone’s feelings.  Nice.

After a moment, Magnus holds out a hesitant hand.  “Can I – I mean.  I know it’s not really your thing but, I really missed -,”

“You wanna get all snuggly up in this shit?” Taako teases, and some of the tension visibly drains from Magnus.  “You are always welcome, Maggie.”  He opens his arms, and Magnus encircles him, maybe a little too tightly to be comfortable at first, but Taako isn’t going to stop him.  He’s so warm and – and.. safe.  Dying sucked, and a hug isn’t going to fix it, but damn, it certainly helps.  Taako closes his eyes and burrows his face into Magnus’ neck – might as well, while he’s here.  Nobody needs to know.

“It really did suck without you,” Magnus says, the deep timbre rumbling through Taako.  “Things are just.. a hell of a lot more fun with Taako around.”

“You said it, my dude,” Taako murmurs, grinning, and Magnus laughs.

“Just… try not to do that again, okay?” Magnus continues, and Taako sighs.  All in, right?

“Non-death pact, then?” he asks; the closest he thinks he could verbally get to ‘don’t you die on me either,’ or something equally as sappy.  He feels Magnus laugh and nod in agreement.  

Magnus pulls away after what feels like a small eternity, though his hand stays clasped to Taako’s forearm for a little too long. 

“So, uh..,” Taako looks away to cast his gaze back up at the sky, and then back down at Magnus in invitation.  Now that that’s all over and done with, he finds that he doesn’t really want to let Magnus just up and leave.  There’s a warmth emanating from him that Taako knows by now is contagious, and difficult to let go of.  He wants to bask in it for a while longer.  So he offers.  “Wanna join me for a while?  Get some stargazing in?”

“Yeah.  Yeah, I’d love to,” Magnus smiles.  They turn their gazes upwards, a comfortable silence falling over them as they stare into the still night. (Or maybe day? Or afternoon?  Time is such an abstract concept when you’re floating in the endless abyss, Taako thinks to himself.)

And if Taako leans into Magnus’s side when he offers an arm around his shoulder, well, nobody but Magnus needs to know.

**Author's Note:**

> I really, really love TAZ and I really, REALLY love these two. Maybe this will end up becoming part of a series? I'll see if my motivation cooperates!


End file.
